Schneider Electric has announced the expansion of its relationship with colocation provider DartPoints to support the company as it branches into five new U.S. markets. Since beginning the relationship in 2014, Schneider Electric custom solutions and technology implementations have helped DartPoints grow its business model and take advantage of new opportunities brought on by the growing demand for edge data center solutions.

Edge drivers

The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data have increased demand for connectivity, speed and processing power, pushing the need for these capabilities closer to the customer and where data is generated, out at the network edge.

Founded on edge infrastructure, DartPoints’ colocation offering consists of customized micro edge data center solutions powered by Schneider Electric technology. With this approach, DartPoints ensures uptime and speed at a lower price and enables clients — from small and medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500 organizations — to deploy the capabilities they need today, with room to expand in the future. This alleviates common physical infrastructure concerns around underutilized square footage, cooling costs, and power consumption, while managing IT needs.

“Our key business driver is going wherever the customer is located and bringing applications there to drive latency down and reduce cost,” said Hugh Carspecken, CEO, DartPoints. “Schneider Electric’s edge solutions enable us to easily build to a user’s needs without the compatibility issues that full customization requires, while streamlining design and construction for quick deployment, flexibility and scale. Furthermore, the resiliency and reliability of their products withstands the hardest of infrastructure challenges and makes it possible for us to maintain and even exceed our service standards and service level agreements.”

To provide clients with highly flexible and resilient infrastructure that is easy to replicate and scale based on customer demand in as little as 45 days, DartPoints leverages Schneider Electric micro edge data center products and solutions, including:

• Symmetra™ PX 100 UPS: A scalable, fault-tolerant three-phase uninterruptible power supply (UPS) offering high efficiency, performance and availability.

• InRow Cooling: Significantly improves cooling efficiency by reducing power consumption while also increasing capacity and offering the ability to support higher rack density.

• EcoAisle Containment: Increases data center cooling efficiency while protecting critical IT equipment and data center personnel from thermal events.

• StruxureWare™ Data Center Expert: Provides centralized management and reporting at every level of the infrastructure, including temperature, airflow, humidity and security.

From vision to reality

Initially commissioned with Schneider Electric as a Dallas-based proof of concept facility in 2014, the DartPoints model has moved from idea to reality, resulting in significant growth within just a few years.

“When DartPoints first came to us, they were looking to bring a model to market that was different from the traditional colocation business, offering the same economies of scale as the larger data centers but with a smaller footprint,” said Mike Hagan, Vice President, Sales – IT Division, Schneider Electric. “It was a challenge, but one we were confident could be achieved working together through our integrated product set and services.”

Throughout more than two years of testing, DartPoints has successfully delivered fully redundant 100kW systems — either on-premise within a building or on-site at a campus of buildings in its 24/7 colocation offering. Across deployed customers, DartPoints’ edge model has delivered a 30% to 40% reduction in total cost of ownership. A savings that is expected to be even greater as time goes on, with an estimated three-year total cost of ownership savings of 35% to 45%.

As demand for its colocation services continues to grow, DartPoints plans to expand into five new markets, including Phoenix, Las Vegas, St. Paul, Minnesota, Kansas City, Kansas, and the Greater New York area. It also expects to double in revenue and size in 2017.